As the government funding for the International Space Station is nearly ready to be pulled, it's clear NASA is now desperate to get outside funding. The once stellar agency that fulfilled JFK's landing on the Moon goal, has now been reduced to grafting (at $50 million a pop, plus change) for space tourists to support its further endeavors. Meanwhile, we have an idiot resident in the White House who doesn't wish to return to the Moon (say to set up permanent bases) and believes the "Moon is part of Mars". That's how far this nation has regressed in a mere 50 years. (The 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing - by the Apollo 11 crew- will be on July 20th.)
As for the space tourist trips, they've actually been under discussion for years. Recall some 5 years ago the Virgin Galactic maiden voyage crash (of "Spaceship Two") e.g.
As I observed in that Nov. 1, 2014 post, the purpose:
"was to give wealthy hotshots a chance to say they'd at least been to the edge of space (to experience weightlessness) at a quarter million a pop. The total duration of each flight? Five minutes. Must be nice to be able to burn a quarter million for a 5 minute romp just to say you've nominally been to space!"
I haven't budged from that, and pretty well side with Aussie astronaut Andy Thomas who referred to such stunts as "dead-end and dangerous technology, " Also - big deal! You are only getting to the edge of space, around 62 miles up, not into space itself. Thus, mini treks like Virgin's Richard Branson have offered are merely glorified high altitude plane flights, again to use Thomas' parlance.
The NASA proposed adventures are different because if you're rich enough to afford the ticket ($50 million for up to 30 days on the space station, and $35,000 per day to cover life support - food, medical supplies etc.) you actually do get to be in literal space - 254 miles above the Earth. So you will get to see the actual sights the astronauts see, i.e. of the Earth from high above, the continents, with cities scattered like bright specks.
But is it really worth it? First of all, to be able to actually enjoy the 30 day sojourn (bear in mind there will only be limited runs to the ISS from Earth, not like catching a bus to return to Earth when you want) you have to have some idea of what 30 days in space will be like. If you're not conditioned you will be space sick almost continuously - and it will make sea sickness look like a day at the proverbial beach.
Second, are you really going to be prepared to consume mushy liquids out of tubes for 30 days, as opposed to eating real burgers, steaks? Is that what you're coughing up 50 million smackeroos for? Really? And what about using the space station toilet? Are you prepared for that novel experience?
The much bigger question is how are you going to get conditioned for the trip? I mean think of this logically. In the opening of the space era more than 50 years ago - the era of the Mercury and Gemini astronauts - training typically lasted weeks to months. NASA didn't just recruit guys like Alan Shepherd and John Glenn and plop them into rockets and send them off. They had to undergo serious physical training including being spun in centrifuges to prep them. And then there was the ability to sustain the g forces at liftoff.
Are any of these billionaires going to be ready for that? Or, will they get heart attacks as soon as they experience 10 gs? And sorry, unlike on prosaic jet planes, there will be no doctors likely to take care of you on the spot, at that instant. If that heart attack comes on under those g -forces at liftoff you are likely dead. One billionaire cadaver to have to send back with the return rocket.
Perhaps the biggest issue is what exactly these well-heeled private visitors will do for thirty days - assuming they survive liftoff. All the ISS team of astronauts actually have specific jobs, so they aren't lollygagging looking out of windows the whole time. They are recording flight data, conducting experiments, planning others, and may even need to do a space walk or two to fix any technical problem that arises.
The billionaires who line up for these space station junkets are a different breed. They are most likely already retired, have no special technical or scientific skills or abilities. So what will they do for thirty days? Read? Look out of windows? Play their Ipods? I suspect after 3 days or so when the novelty of the first images and sensory experiences wear off they'll be utterly bored.
That's a pity because given a roughly $3 billion annual cost to operate the station (maintaining and supplying it), NASA will need 60 rich guys to sign on each year. That's assuming it will cost $50 million a pop. Even to support the $200 million in research projects utilizing the space station will take at least 4 trip per year at the same rate.
The true pity would be to allow the ISS to become defunct or just crash to Earth, when that $3 billion a month currently being wasted in Afghanistan could save it.
As for me, I will save my space views for just watching DVDs of the last Space Shuttle missions to the ISS, and what transpired in those. I don't need to spend $50 million to say I've been to space, and wouldn't even if I had it, say after winning a Powerball.
What would I do instead if I managed to win $200 m (one time payout) in a Powerball? Well, I'd launch a think tank with priorities in political strategy for the Democrats!
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